Lake KariA prominent pro-choice denier running for the Arizona state Senate has decided not to plead guilty to a defamation lawsuit filed by a Republican election official in Maricopa County.
Stephen Richer, presiding over the county’s 2022 election, filed a defamation lawsuit He claimed he “repeatedly and falsely accused” Lake in the gubernatorial race won by Democrat Katie Hobbs against Lake in June.
LakeOn Tuesday, the legal team filed a default judgment indicating he pleaded not guilty. Instead, he tries to dispute damages.
He also said Richer must turn over relevant medical and psychiatric records to show the adverse health effects detailed in his lawsuit. Lake requested a jury trial for the standard hearing.
Lake, a staunch Trump ally, has repeatedly denied that he won the 2022 gubernatorial bid, taking aim at Richer.
The lawsuit alleged that because of Lake’s “known and malicious lies,” Richer and his family were subjected to threats of violence and even death, and their lives were disrupted.
The lawsuit pointed to a series of election denial claims by Lake, including that he claimed Richer misprinted ballots “so the tabulators would be stuck all day.” In another instance, his campaign’s Twitter account claimed Richer was “sabotaging” Election Day.
Dozens of voting machines it’s broken During the 2022 election in Arizona, he would not accept ballots to be read, which some conservatives have falsely pointed out as supporting conspiracy theories. The main reason was the ending tracked changes to the ballot.
Lake X disputed Richer’s claim on Tuesday in a video statement.
“By participating in this lawsuit, it will only serve to legitimize this perversion of our legal system and allow bad actors to interfere in our upcoming elections,” he said. “So I won’t be attending.”
Richer responded by telling her in X that she “admitted she had no evidence (truth is a 100% speedy defense to defamation), she surrendered her First Amendment claims and dropped the fight.”
“However, I am happy to begin an investigation into the damage,” he said. “Remember, he said this case is very similar to Rudy and Trump – I’m fine with those last dollar figures.”
Trump’s longtime ally Rudy Giuliani He was ordered to pay $148 million in a defamation case last year for making false claims about two former election workers in Georgia. Giuliani previously chose not to contest the lawsuit.
Attorneys for Lake and Richer did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday night.